What do Indians Search for on Google

May 28, 2012

An article with some interesting results as to what Indians search for on Google. The article also contains top ten countries where the keyword is most popular.

Google search is most popular search engine on Internet. It accounts for over 90% queries made on the web. With billions of people using Internet, Google search provides pretty interesting insights into what is going on in different societies around the world. People often search for what they need or what is important for them.

TechWelkin has done a bit of research in finding out what Indians have been searching for using Google search engine. The figures are based on searches made from India during the last 12 months from the time of the list preparation. Data also shows top ten countries where keyword was most searched for. This data has been collected from Google Insights for Search.

1. Keyword: Love

No love in our over billion-strong country? Even much smaller countries look for the keyword “love” -but Indians are not in top ten. What should we think about it?

In May 2012

Philippines

Gambia

Sierra Leone

Eritrea

Ghana

Lesotho

Fiji

Nepal

Kenya

Swaziland

In Nov 2014

Philippines

Eritrea

Samoa

Tonga

Bhutan

Guyana

Swaziland

Ghana

Kenya

Northern Mariana Islands

2. Keyword: Sex

One of the most sought after keyword on Internet is “sex”. In November 2014 Indians rank 2nd in looking for sex as keyword in Google search. India has progressed in this search since May 2012. A leap of two places! Now India is only behind Sri Lanka in the quest for this keyword. Pakistan, a supposedly much more conservative nation, also figures in the top ten list.

In May 2012

Sri Lanka

Ethiopia

Papua New Guinea

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Somalia

Vietnam

Cambodia

Nepal

In Nov 2014

Sri Lanka

India

Bangladesh

Ethiopia

Nepal

Pakistan

Vietnam

Cambodia

Papua New Guinea

Timor-Leste

3. Keyword: Corruption

In 2012, India ranked second. It’s not surprising that Indians were interested in this keyword because the anti-corruption movement was sweeping the breadth and length of the country.

In 2014, however, India is out of the top ten list. Have those anti-corruption sentiments in general public died down? Or may be India has become a corruption-free country? What do you think?

In May 2012

Uganda

India

Cameroon

Tanzania

Nigeria

Ethiopia

Kenya

Mauritius

Ghana

Pakistan

In Nov 2014

Bhutan

Benin

Uganda

Burkina Faso

Ethiopia

Cameroon

Botswana

Zambia

Kenya

Nigeria

4. Keyword: Movies

India being the home of world’s largest film industry, Indians are real movie buffs; but perhaps not as much as Pakistanis! Both India and Pakistan are holding their top positions firmly. No change in last two years.

In May 2012

Pakistan

India

United Arab Emirates

Papua New Guinea

Jamaica

Fiji

Sri Lanka

Trinidad and Tobago

Philippines

Nepal

In Nov 2014

Pakistan

India

Qatar

United Arab Emirates

Marshall Islands

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Micronesia

Grenada

Bhutan

Papua New Guinea

5. Keyword: Books

In 2012, India’s global position was 5th … Surprisingly, Botswana led the pack followed by Ethiopia, USA and Zambia.

In 2014, India slipped a notch below. Is that an evidence of the much talked about declining interest in books? Even USA has slipped two places down.

In May 2012

Botswana

Ethiopia

United States

Zambia

India

Pakistan

South Africa

Australia

Fiji

Malawi

In Nov 2014

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Lesotho

Botswana

United States

India

Pakistan

South Africa

U.S. Virgin Islands

Swaziland

6. Keyword: Music

Nopes! Indians don’t look for “music” keyword much on Google. At least not enough to be featured among the top ten. Both in 2012 and 2014, India does not show up in the list. The top ten lists in both years are dominated by small African countries.

In May 2012

Lesotho

Swaziland

Ethiopia

Namibia

Botswana

Papua New Guinea

Malawi

Gambia

Timor-Leste

Zambia

In Nov 2014

Papua New Guinea

Ethiopia

American Samoa

Lesotho

Vanuatu

Namibia

Guyana

Marshall Islands

Belize

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

7 . Keyword: Travel

Indians are apparently not interested in travel. The country does not rank in top ten. UK has not loosened its grasp in last two years. The country remains the leader of the list.

In May 2012

United Kingdom

Singapore

New Zealand

Ireland

Australia

Canada

Hong Kong

Serbia

Laos

Fiji

In Nov 2014

United Kingdom

Ireland

Singapore

New Zealand

Isle of Man

Guernsey

Australia

Jersey

Bermuda

Gibraltar

8. Keyword: Flight

In 2012, Indians featured at number 6 among ten countries that looked for the keyword “flight”. But in 2014, it was kicked out by African countries. South Africa, Canada, UK and USA also went out of the list. Australia although lost it’s top position but managed to hold its ground to remain in the list.

In May 2012

Australia

Fiji

New Zealand

Singapore

United Arab Emirates

India

South Africa

Canada

United Kingdom

United States

In Nov 2014

Turks and Caicos Islands

Sint Maarten

Vanuatu

Australia

Anguilla

Cayman Islands

Seychelles

Bermuda

Guernsey

British Virgin Islands

9. Keyword: Girls

Yes, Indians do use this keyword a lot in their searches. In 2014, India lost just one point and is still appearing right in the middle of the list.

In May 2012

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Papua New Guinea

India

Somalia

Afghanistan

Nepal

Myanmar [Burma]

Fiji

Trinidad and Tobago

In Nov 2014

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Bhutan

Solomon Islands

India

Nepal

Afghanistan

Guyana

Samoa

Papua New Guinea

10. Keyword: Hot

It is an interesting keyword. It may mean a lot of things. India has it all: hot weather, spices, chillies, hot plates… and a lot more things that I will leave to your imagination. Perhaps that is why India is the leader for this keyword.

In May 2012

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Sri Lanka

Papua New Guinea

Timor-Leste

Nepal

Somalia

Vietnam

Afghanistan

In Nov 2014

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Sri Lanka

Timor-Leste

Nepal

Indonesia

Bhutan

United Arab Emirates

Solomon Islands

11. Keyword: Spirituality

India is considered to be the land of spirituality. But in 2012, Indians ranked only 7th for this keyword. In 2014, India leaked a lot of spirituality and sunk to the last position in the list. Will India be spiritual enough to remain in the list when we will do our next update?

In May 2012

Australia

Philippines

South Africa

United States

Canada

New Zealand

India

Ireland

Singapore

Pakistan

In Nov 2014

Australia

Kenya

South Africa

Philippines

Canada

United States

New Zealand

Nigeria

Ireland

India

12. Keyword: Free

It is again a very interesting keyword. Free could be anything! India occupied the second place for this keyword in the year 2012. In 2014, the position is just one point down.

In May 2012

Pakistan

India

Somalia

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Nepal

Papua New Guinea

Swaziland

Myanmar [Burma]

Philippines

In Nov 2014

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

India

Bangladesh

Kiribati

Nepal

Ethiopia

Marshall Islands

Philippines

Micronesia

13. Keyword: Job

A number of African countries feature in the list. Is it surprising? India is topping the chart in 2014. It’s a huge jump from sixth position in 2012. Why have Indians become so much interested in “job” lately?

In May 2012

Lesotho

Rwanda

Philippines

United Kingdom

Nigeria

India

Kenya

Fiji

Botswana

Uganda

In Nov 2014

India

Philippines

Maldives

Kenya

Lesotho

Swaziland

Nigeria

Isle of Man

United Kingdom

South Africa

14. Keyword: Rape

Only Indian subcontinent and African countries are there in the top 10. India tops the current list. It’s no wonder because crime against women are a horrible reality in Indian cities. Even on social media channels, like Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc., women are harassed. You can not really argue that Indians search for this keyword just to research about the situation of rape incidents in India. This keyword in often searched by men who want to indulge in obscene material online.

In May 2012

Papua New Guinea

India

Pakistan

Fiji

Bangladesh

Nepal

Sri Lanka

Mauritius

Trinidad and Tobago

Nigeria

In Nov 2014

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Papua New Guinea

Fiji

Bhutan

Nepal

Sri Lanka

Maldives

Mauritius

15. Keyword: Female foeticide

India is so way above all other countries that Google lists only India in the list for this key phrase. The number of searches sky-rocketed during 6-12 May 2012 (this was the time when Amir Khan’sSatyameva Jayate was telecast)

In 2014 also, the situation remains same. India and the USA are the only countries in the list with India miles ahead of USA. Google search for keywords “female foeticide” in other countries is negligible in comparison to India.

16. Keyword: Download

“Download” is also one of the most searched keyword on Internet. Indian subcontinent loves to download stuff from Internet. Pakistan and India are the world leaders in tapping material from the ocean of the web.

In May 2012

Pakistan

India

Nepal

Bangladesh

Indonesia

Timor-Leste

Sri Lanka

Myanmar [Burma]

Philippines

Somalia

In Nov 2014

Pakistan

India

Indonesia

Bangladesh

Nepal

Sri Lanka

Ghana

Bhutan

Nigeria

Myanmar (Burma)

17. Keyword: Disability

Despite of being second most populated country in the world, and home for millions of people with disabilities -India ranks no where in top 10 countries where keyword “disability” is searched for. Is it apathy or something else?

In May 2012

United States

Australia

United Kingdom

Ireland

Canada

New Zealand

Kenya

Ghana

South Africa

Nigeria

In Nov 2014

Australia

United States

United Kingdom

Ireland

Botswana

Canada

New Zealand

Guam

Uganda

Zimbabwe

18. Keyword: Fairness

Indian society is obsessed with “fairness” (of skin)… India ranks second in both 2012 and 2014. Countries with majority of white people also figure (but low) on the list.

In May 2012

Sri Lanka

India

Pakistan

Philippines

United Arab Emirates

South Africa

Singapore

United States

Australia

Canada

In Nov 2014

Sri Lanka

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Bolivia

Philippines

United Arab Emirates

South Africa

United States

Singapore

19. Keyword: Study

India does not feature in the list of searches for “study”. Why? We wonder! Both in 2012 and 2014, the lists have been totally dominated by African countries.

In May 2012

Botswana

Namibia

Zambia

Nigeria

Fiji

Rwanda

Malawi

Nepal

Uganda

Ethiopia

In Nov 2014

Eritrea

Swaziland

Lesotho

Nepal

Bhutan

Zambia

Nigeria

Botswana

Namibia

Zimbabwe

20. Keyword: God

India is not in the list but again. And again the African continent is the leader in search for “God”.

In May 2012

Philippines

Malawi

Botswana

Ghana

Nigeria

Zambia

Jamaica

Fiji

Uganda

Zimbabwe

In Nov 2014

Swaziland

Ghana

Nigeria

Eritrea

Philippines

Lesotho

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Malawi

Liberia

21. Keyword: Fun

I had expected these results. USA at the top… and India is nowhere to be seen for “fun”.

In May 2012

United States

Slovakia

France

Belgium

Fiji

Canada

Australia

New Zealand

Trinidad and Tobago

Pakistan

In Nov 2014

United States

Slovakia

Northern Mariana Islands

Greenland

France

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

Bermuda

Belgium

22. Keyword: Yoga

Yoga is loved by the world; especially by the well-to-do part of it. India, the land where Yoga originated, is not the top country in the list. It in fact has gone down two places in last two years.

In May 2012

Canada

United States

Australia

India

Singapore

Ireland

Mauritius

New Zealand

Nepal

Germany

In Nov 2014

Canada

United States

Cayman Islands

Singapore

Australia

India

Bermuda

Ireland

New Zealand

Hong Kong

23. Keyword: Literature

Philippines leads a host of African countries. India is nowhere to be seen.

In May 2012

Philippines

Fiji

Nigeria

Uganda

Botswana

Ghana

Tanzania

Kenya

Zimbabwe

Jamaica

In Nov 2014

Lesotho

Philippines

Bhutan

Nigeria

Zimbabwe

Uganda

Ghana

Kenya

Botswana

Belize

These were some of the interesting keywords and their search volume in India and its comparison with the world. I am sure some of the results will surprise you and also you would have found some results as per your expectations. Nowadays, when a large portion of the world is hooked onto Internet, Google search reveals quite of bit of what respective societies collectively think.

Please share the thoughts that these results invoke in your mind. It would be an interesting discussion!

I hope this was useful for you. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions on this topic. I will be happy to try and help you. Thank you for using TechWelkin.

Lalit Kumar is the Principal Author and Founder of TechWelkin. He is a web explorer and he enjoys finding useful information on the Internet. He loves to put things together to create a bigger solution. Lalit is passionate about technology, languages and literature. You can contact Lalit via email (techwelkin [at] gmail [dot] com) or Facebook (facebook.com/techwelkin).